South Wales Echo letters: Friday, September 4, 2015

Flowerbeds at their best at Dyffryn Gardens. Sent in by Jean Bevan, of Ely, Cardiff

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Clean the city for our visitors

THE WORLD rugby cup arrives in Cardiff within the next few days, but the town centre is in urgent need of a deep clean. Once again we are in the centre of international attention. What is the city council doing about it and when?

Mr R Wolstencroft

Leckwith Road, Cardiff

Our bus service is a joke

READING Cynthia Ogbonna’s statement about how a high quality bus service can benefit a capital city, I wonder what capital city she is talking about because she has ruined the bus service in Cardiff. It is a joke, she has taken off services on routes that were the lifeline to so many people older people who used to rely on the bus as the only way to get about.

She should get out and about as I told her in many letter to keep the route on Plasmawr Road Fairwater, yes the bus still runs but times that are no use to some of the older people who like to get out early to avoid the crowds. One an hour, no bus on a Sunday. I can no longer rely on a bus and have to hail a taxi as the times are no good too me and the new buses are hopeless for the disabled like me, why don’t she and the pen pushers get out and see the misery they have caused.

Josephine Thompson

Fairwater, Cardiff

Well done... but we need housing

I’m glad to hear that Bedwas residents have won their battle against the proposed housing developments on Pandy Lane.

Wendy Lewis memorably detailed the fight that she and her late husband Ray Davies led to ‘preserve the beauty of the area’ (‘People power’, August 31).

It is heartening that ‘people power’ can still beat the property developers. At the same time this campaign was going on, though, Ray Davies was also regularly haranguing us in the letters pages of the Echo that we needed to facilitate more immigration into the country. As immigration is a major factor in increasing our population in the UK by some millions, then this all seems a bit odd to me.

How did Ray think all the new people were going to be housed, if it wasn’t through new housing developments? And if he wanted them all here, why was he fighting against new housing in his own backyard?

Gareth Bennett

Llandaff Road, Canton, Cardiff

This is a revolt against Blair

MR BLAIR should realise that his exhortation to Labour voters not to support Mr Corbyn reveals that the support for a legitimate contender of the leadership is a result of a revolt against the Blair government’s self-serving decisions.

And those who are of like mind should urgently consider responding to the concerns of so many voters, by accepting the need to correct policies which have undermined our society.

Our “representatives” should listen to all genuine concerns, not just those from their obvious supporters.

The same strictures should apply even more so to the two previous Tory Government or rather all the Tory Governments.

Derek Rees

Lakeside, Cardiff

Thank you for a great holiday

Last week my wife Tricia and I spent some days at our static caravan at the Fontygary Leisure Park, Rhoose.

Through your newspapers, I wish to express our grateful thanks to several people who enhanced our stay.

[1] Nicola Williams and her colleagues at the sales office of the aforementioned park.

[2] Jenny, Melanie and Kieron at reception in the same park; the last three being a real help with the problem I had of sending the church magazine my wife and I are responsible for to the printers in the town where we worship –Swindon.

[3] Steve of the Marconi Holiday Village near Lavernock Point spent some time showing us the newspaper cuttings he had in the village’s Marconi Inn which he got down off the wall and allowed me to take photographs. I was doing some research for a PowerPoint presentation I am working on regarding the Vale of Glamorgan.

[4] The grounds and buildings of Fonmon Castle near our caravan site were excellent and this comment was enhanced by the guide (Serina Evans) who spent an hour guiding around the building. Her knowledge of Fonmon Castle’s history was ‘out of this world.’ I have a back problem and I have some difficulty in standing for a while; this guide provided me with a chair wherever I went. I was really privileged to be able to take photographs of my future presentation of a Welsh Bible and a Book of Common Prayer both from the 1600s!

Although it rained most of our stay the people mentioned above made up for that in an excellent way – our grateful thanks to them would be appreciated if this letter could be published in your newspapers and brought to their attention, please.

Ken and Tricia Mumford

Swindon

We can’t afford Tories in the Bay

The leader of Caerphilly council has raised “serious concerns” to the plan to cut the number of local authorities in Wales from 22 to 8. Councillor Keith Reynolds reiterated the authorities vow to “stand alone”after the Welsh government announced plans for local government reforms. Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews put forward the case for merging Caerphilly with Newport, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Monmouth. This will happen if Labour wins an overall control of the Welsh Assembly next year.

This back to the future plan shows a huge lack of vision by Leighton Andrews, who coming from the private sector appears to be completely out of touch with the workings of local authorities. Devolution should go further than Cardiff Bay. It should be about local accountability and delivering good quality services to residents locally but we appear to be faced with a government that thinks the answer to everything is to centralise.

Those of us remember the infighting within the Labour party when Islwyn and Rhymney valley merged. Islwyn councillors blamed Rhymney valley councils for historic debts and mismanagement. The only way to stop these reforms is to vote Plaid Cymru and kick out this Labour government in Cardiff Bay. Wales can’t afford a subservient Labour government who makes the right noises in public while carrying out Tory cuts. Wales can’t afford having a Tory government in Cardiff Bay willingly carrying out cuts to public spending.